Maria Daines
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12/18/2006 6:27:10 AM
Buffalo Field Campaign Newsletter, Dec 2006
Buffalo Field Campaign (BFC)
Update from the Field
December 14, 2006
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View Video Footage:
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org
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https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=1807
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Why are they killing the last wild buffalo?
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/issueinbrief.html
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In this issue:
* Update from the Field
* Auction in Progress: February Ski Trip to Support BFC
* When Quarantined Buffalo Tasted Momentary Freedom (by Dru)
* Last Words
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* Update from the Field
Dear Buffalo Friends,
Less than a mile from the border of Yellowstone National Park, the eighth bull buffalo has been killed in Montana's so-called hunt.
Over the past few days, patrols had been keeping an eye on two bull buffalo that were inside Yellowstone National Park slowly making their way west. So long as they remained within the veritable cage of the Park's boundaries, they were safe from gunners. And, after talking with Koelzer's grandson, coupled with this years' absence of "hunters welcome" signs posted on the property, we even thought the buffalo might be okay there. We were wrong.
Early this morning, patrols made their way from Fir Ridge along the Yellowstone boundary trail towards Duck Creek to check up on the bulls. The trail follows the western edge of Gallatin National Forest, a tract of public land less than 1/4 mile wide bordering the Koelzer property. Patrols waited in the cold and waning dark to get a glimpse of the shapes of buffalo. But they didn't find any living buffalo. As the sun began to rise shedding light on the landscape, they saw that buffalo blood had been shed on the Koelzer property. The only thing left of this bull was the blood-stained snow. His shaggy partner left only tracks going back deep into Yellowstone. The shooters must have waited until the last possible legal minute to kill the buffalo, making quick work in the dark last night. A testament to their conscience?
Honestly, we don't even know if the Koelzer family has given permission for gunners to shoot buffalo on their property. We assume so. But, why would the hunters wait until dark if they had permission? Maybe deep down they know it's wrong and were trying to avoid being noticed. But they were noticed. BFC is always watching.
The DOL never has had a good excuse for killing bull buffalo. The DOL claims it's "protecting" the cattle industry from the spread of brucellosis, yet bulls cannot transmit brucellosis - and no wild buffalo ever has given it to cattle anyway. The potential is extremely rare, almost non-existent. But now, with this canned hunt, the DOL doesn't have to justify their deeds - they get "hunters" to do their dirty work for them. It's still a buffalo extermination program no matter how they try to mask it. Montana is one vast no-tolerance zone for America's last wild buffalo. It's all about the grass and who gets to eat it.
Montana changes the players and the wording for a few months, from DOL slaughter to hunters hunting, and somehow this disguise is fooling a lot of people. It's an extermination program employing hasty gunners too eager to fill their freezers with the bodies of Am
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